1. Technical Field
Aspects and embodiments of the present invention relate to systems and methods for the treatment of individuals experiencing cardiac distress.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Treatment of a subject experiencing cardiac distress can generally include clearing the subject's airway, assisting the subject's breathing, chest compressions, and defibrillation.
Defibrillation can be performed with the use of an automatic external defibrillator (AED). Most automatic external defibrillators are actually semi-automatic external defibrillators (SAED), which require a responder to press a start button, after which the defibrillator analyzes the subject's condition, provides a shock to the subject if the electrical rhythm is shockable, and waits for user intervention before any subsequent shock. Fully automatic external defibrillators, on the other hand, do not wait for user intervention before applying subsequent shocks. As the term is used herein, automatic external defibrillators (AED) include semi-automatic external defibrillators (SAED).
Both types of defibrillators typically provide an oral stand clear warning before the application of each shock, and then the responder is expected to stand clear of the subject and may be required to press a button indicating that the responder is standing clear of the subject. The controls for automatic external defibrillators are typically located on a control panel of the defibrillator.
AEDs are typically used by trained providers such as physicians, nurses, fire department personnel, and police officers. There might be one or two people at a given facility that has an AED who has been trained to provide emergency aid, such as defibrillation and/or CPR before an ambulance service arrives. The availability of on-site AEDs along with rescuers trained to operate them is important because if the subject experiences a delay of more than about 90 seconds before receiving a defibrillation shock, the subject's chance of survival can drop dramatically. Many large cities and rural areas have low survival rates for defibrillation because the ambulance response time is slow. Many suburbs have higher survival rates because of the faster ambulance response time due to lack of traffic and availability of hospitals and advanced life support.
Trained lay providers are a new group of AED operators, but they rarely have opportunities to defibrillate. For example, spouses of heart attack victims may become lay providers, but these lay providers can be easily intimidated by an AED during a medical emergency. Consequently, such lay providers can be reluctant to purchase AEDs, or might tend to wait for an ambulance to arrive rather than use an available AED, out of concern that the lay provider might do something wrong.